Lăcătuş steps down again as Steaua coach

Marius Lăcătuş has stepped down as coach of FC Steaua Bucureşti, bringing to an end his second spell this season in charge of the Romanian club, who are battling to reach the UEFA Europa League.

'Right decision'
Lăcătuş had originally been in charge from 2007 to last October, when he resigned in the wake of Steaua's 5-3 home defeat by Olympique Lyonnais in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, a loss which also followed a patchy run in domestic football. Briefly replaced by Dorinel Munteanu, he was back in the job by mid-December, only to now leave a second time following a disappointing run of league results which have left Steaua seventh in the table. "This is the right decision both for me and for the team," Lăcătuş told Steaua's official website following talks on Sunday with the club's owner, George Becali.

Caretaker Pedrazzini
Italian Massimo Pedrazzini, Lăcătuş's assistant, will be in charge for the remaining three games of the season in his third spell as the club's caretaker coach. He had previously taken temporary charge when former playing great Gheorghe Hagi left in September 2007 and was back again just before Munteanu took over earlier this term. Having watched the side draw 1-1 with league leaders FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti and then lose 2-1 to city rivals FC Rapid Bucureşti in their last two games, both at home, Pedrazzini's task will be to engineer a revival in form that would book Steaua into next season's UEFA Europa League.

Becali's shortlist
Looking to the future, Becali said he already had a shortlist of four coaches for next season: Romanians Dan Petrescu, currently at AFC Unirea Urziceni, and Basarab Panduru, who is without a contract, along with Italians Cristiano Bergodi of FC Politehnica Iaşi and Catania Calcio's Walter Zenga, who has previously coached three Bucharest clubs - Steau, Dinamo and National.